‫Hello and welcome back to your second elds listening practice test, as always, there are four sections
‫with 40 questions in total.
‫Remember to use the time to read through the questions answered, checked your answers when I prompt
‫you.
‫Well, let's begin.
‫Section one, you will hear a conversation about a language course, but before that you have some time
‫to look through questions one to five.
‫You will see that there is an example that has been done for you on this occasion only you will hear
‫a conversation about this example and its answer.
‫The answer is level three or intermediate, and you can see that this has been filled out for you.
‫Now we can start the test.
‫You should answer the questions as you listen as you will only hear the recording want.
‫Listen carefully and answer questions one to five.
‫Patterson, John Patterson, could you spell that for me, please, Mr. Patterson, p e, double t e
‫r, double s o and that's a double T and A double s, am I right?
‫That's right.
‫Now, could I ask you where the course takes place?
‫Well, we offer courses in Hamburg and Berlin for your level.
‫There's never a problem.
‫There are always plenty of people for the intermediate classes.
‫Oh, dear.
‫Does that mean that there might be a lot of students in my class?
‫I wouldn't be very happy about that.
‫No, don't worry, Mr. Patterson.
‫The maximum class size is 12, but I've never known there to be more than nine or ten in a class.
‫It could even be five or six.
‫Good.
‫Actually, I'd prefer to study in Berlin and how long is the course, three weeks, five hours a day,
‫two hours only on Saturday.
‫Sundays free.
‫I see.
‫And what about accommodation?
‫There you have a choice, Mr. Patterson.
‫You can either stay with a German family who are used to having such guests or you can stay on the university
‫campus or we can book you into a nearby bed and breakfast.
‫Is there a big difference in price?
‫Not really.
‫Staying with the family works out the cheapest and the bed and breakfast is a bit more money.
‫Staying on the university campus come somewhere between the two price wise, but Berlin is not too expensive
‫anyway.
‫Which do you recommend?
‫Well, if you want to practice your German and be part of a German family, I would recommend staying
‫with a family.
‫Our families are all hand-picked and we've never had any sort of complaint.
‫Yes, I'll probably do that.
‫Then what are the dates of the course?
‫The first summer course starts on the 1st of June in Hamburg and a week later in Berlin, which is what
‫would concern you as you have chosen the Berlin course.
‫That's the 8th of June.
‫The next course would begin on the 2nd of July and then the second of July course would be perfect for
‫me.
‫Can you put me down for it now?
‫Certainly.
‫Mr. Patterson, can I have your address, please?
‫26 Mayfield Drive, Orpington Kent.
‫I'm afraid I can't remember the postal code.
‫Don't worry, Mr. Patterson.
‫I'll check on it.
‫Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions, six to 10.
‫Now listen and answer questions, six to 10.
‫There are a couple of other things I'd like to ask, certainly what do I need to bring on the course?
‫Well, apart from the obvious, you need textbooks.
‫I'll email you the name and publisher.
‫You should be able to find it in your local bookstore.
‫If you do have problems, call me or email me and I'll see what I can do.
‫We provide the computers, computer disks, translation exercises and all that sort of thing, but you
‫will need a good dictionary.
‫We recommend Lengen Scheidt, which is more than adequate for your level.
‫You don't have to go and spend a lot of money on an expensive dictionary.
‫Not yet anyway.
‫Maybe you will when your German reaches a very high standard.
‫That would be very nice.
‫Now, finally, what about the cost of the course and how do I pay?
‫Would you like to pay that in pounds or in euros?
‫Euros would be fine.
‫In that case, it's 550 euros.
‫You can pay by credit card if you like.
‫Oh dear.
‫I'm afraid I haven't got a credit card.
‫How else can I pay?
‫That's not a problem, Mr. Patterson.
‫You can pay by bank transfer.
‫Fine.
‫By the way, I forgot to mention I am a full time student.
‫Have you got a student card?
‫Oh yes.
‫Then that does make a difference.
‫You'll be pleased to hear you are entitled to 35 percent of the full price.
‫And if you can persuade a few people to join you, it would work out even cheaper.
‫How do you mean exactly?
‫Well, for every five people you find, one goes free.
‫In other words, if there are six of you, you get one free course.
‫Of course, in reality, you would divide up the savings things amongst you, probably, right?
‫Well, I'll see what I can do.
‫Thank you.
‫Not at all, Mr. Patterson.
‫And I'm sure you'll enjoy the course.
‫There are, of course, sightseeing possibilities.
‫Would you like me to send you a brochure describing them?
‫Yes.
‫Thank you.
‫I'd appreciate that.
‫Anyway, thanks for your help, if I want to call back, who do I ask for?
‫Susanna I'm here most of the time.
‫That brings us to the end of Section one, you now have 30 seconds to check your answers.
‫It's now time for S. to.
‫Section two, you will hear a radio talk about agricultural regulations, but before that, you have
‫some time to look over questions, 11 to 15.
‫Now listen carefully and answer questions, 11 to 15.
‫Could there be clearer proof of the arrogance and indifference of those who are supposed to keep our
‫food safe than the muzzling of John Veral?
‫Agriculture is a business true and businesses have to make money.
‫But this shows how ministers and officials put the profits of the agriculture business before the well-being
‫of the British people.
‫Mr. Verrall, a pharmaceutical chemist, was appointed to represent consumers on one of the many committees
‫that advise the government on food safety.
‫When he tried to do his job, though, and wanted to warn ministers of a danger to children's health.
‫He was refused permission to do so.
‫The danger comes from hormones given to cattle in the USA and some other countries to make them grow
‫faster.
‫They speed up the animal's development to maturity, thus making meat production more profitable.
‫There have, however, long been fears that the hormones have horrendous effects on the people who eat
‫them, causing diseases as serious as cancer.
‫Once these hormones were used on British cattle to.
‫But over 20 years ago, they were banned in Europe for being too dangerous.
‫Indeed, so concerned is the European Union that it banned imports of hormone fed beef years ago, much
‫to the fury of the US government, which wants to sell it all over the world.
‫Several years ago, the USA and Canada asked the World Trade Organization to declare the ban illegal
‫and to punish Europe for failing to lift it.
‫The WTO, with its long record of refusing to let environmental or safety concerns interfere with trade,
‫agreed imposing fines of more than 120 million dollars a year on the EU for its refusal to back down
‫the British government now backs the Americans, claiming that there is no proof that hormone fed beef
‫does any harm.
‫This is where Mr Verrall comes in.
‫He is very angry with the government, especially as their claim comes out just after a Danish study
‫shows that growth hormones are 200 times more dangerous than was previously thought.
‫Worried by these findings, Mr Verrall spoke to government representatives who did nothing.
‫Before you hear the rest of the radio talk, you have some time to look over questions, 16 to 20.
‫Now listen and answer questions, 16 to 20, not only that, but they have not been testing beef, which
‫is imported, which by law they are required to do this directly affects the British public, as about
‫40 percent of the beef British people eat comes from abroad, supposedly from countries like Brazil,
‫which does not allow the use of growth hormones.
‫Brazilian beef is stocked by some British supermarkets and widely used in catering.
‫Yet when a Brazilian farm was recently visited by EU inspectors, a large stockpile of this banned substance
‫was found.
‫This is not the first food scandal we have had in our country.
‫Take the present concern over a well-known chocolate company.
‫Several months ago, the company found out that its sweets were contaminated with a rare form of salmonella,
‫but they did nothing about it, leaving their sweets in the shops to be bought by the unsuspecting public.
‫It was not until finally, five months later, when several children had suffered food poisoning, that
‫the chocolate bars were removed from the shelves.
‫It makes you wonder how many other dangerous foods have been allowed onto our plates.
‫That is the end of Section two, you now have half a minute to check your answers.
‫That brings us to the end of part A of Alt's listening practice test to see if you're ready to move
‫straight on to Part B for Sections three and four.